TIRANA, June 30 – The Serious Crimes Appeals Court has sentenced Arben Frroku to life imprisonment for the killing of police Detective Dritan Lamaj two years ago, overturning an earlier acquittal.
The verdict comes after a lower court released Frroku three months ago, finding him not guilty.
Frroku used the window between the two court rulings to leave the country.
More than a week ago the local media reported that he was questioned in Montenegro after crossing the border, but that police could not stop him because there was no court order to ban him from traveling.
His lawyer said he left the country two weeks ago, and he had no knowledge on his whereabouts.
His lawyer also said the new guilty verdict was taken under political pressure.
Frroku’s brother, Mark, a member of the Albanian parliament, is currently in jail facing extradition to Belgium where authorities want to try him in association with a murder. The killing happened years ago as part of a clash over controlling a prostitution network in Brussels, according the Belgian warrant. He is also accused of tax evasion by Albanian authorities.
Mark Frroku is the leader of the Christian Democratic Party, formerly associated with the ruling party Socialist-led coalition, which has since called on prosecutors to fully investigate and on the justice system to punish any wrongdoings.
The association of the Socialists with the Frroku brothers had become the focus of criticism for the opposition and what it says is its drive to decriminalize Albanian politics.
The opposition Democratic Party has accused the courts of being under political pressure in the Frroku cases. An official with the party accused the Socialist Party of using Arben Frroku to pressure voters during the electoral campaign of June 21.
Detective Lamaj was 41 in February 2013 when he was shot dead in his car as he traveled to his home in the outskirts of Tirana. His relatives reacted with anger when Frroku was first acquitted.
Investigators immediately focused on Arben Frroku, who had had serious personal frictions with Lamaj in the past. Frroku had previously filed charges with Albanian prosecutors, accusing Lamaj of beating him up and abuse of power.
He was arrested in Thessaloniki and his alibi was that he couldn’t have possibly been at the scene of the crime and make it to Greece in time. Prosecutors did a test and said that if he had driven fast enough he could have made the journey.
